On learning of today’s verdict in the case against Nadiya Savchenko, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, said:

The guilty verdict and sentence of 22 years imprisonment delivered by the Russian court in the case against Nadiya Savchenko is deeply flawed. Ms Savchenko was captured in eastern Ukraine by Russian-backed separatists and taken illegally across the border into Russia in June 2014. Her ongoing detention by Russia is in clear breach of international law and the UK Government has repeatedly called for her release.

Russia needs to fulfil its commitments under the Minsk agreements, including the “release and exchange of all hostages and illegally held persons”, and release Nadiya Savchenko immediately.